Clean Energy building two arrays in Golden

BOULDER – Clean Energy Collective, which has an office in Boulder, is busy building solar projects throughout the Front Range.

The Carbondale-based solar developer recently began construction on two new community-owned solar facilities in Golden for customers of Xcel Energy Inc. (NYSE: XEL). The new facilities will total 684 kilowatts. Construction on the arrays is scheduled to be completed this summer.

Xcel customers in Jefferson County can buy individual panels on the shared solar arrays to receive rebates and incentives. The facilities in Golden are expected to generate 1.16 million kilowatt hours of electricity during their first year of operation. That’s enough electricity to power 100 homes.

The projects mark the third and fourth community solar facilities that Clean Energy Collective has started construction on this month, including two sites in progress in Denver County. Clean Energy Collective will have seven arrays on the Front Range serving Xcel customers after it completes the two projects in Golden.

The company plans to build an additional solar array that will begin generating electricity later this year, potentially at the site of the former Dreher pickle factory, 500 Riverside Ave. in Fort Collins, company and utility representatives said.

The utility will buy power from the 333-kilowatt photovoltaic solar array built by Clean Energy Collective. The city selected the solar firm after issuing a request for proposals late last year.